


What's A New Boy In Town To Do

by endlessnightlock (Endlessnightlock)



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Building Superintendent Katniss, F/M, Human Peeta, Human/Vampire Relationship, Vampire Katniss, Vampire Kinkiness, Willing Bloodbank Peeta, sorry though no sex just lots of innuendo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:48:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26779144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Endlessnightlock/pseuds/endlessnightlock
Summary: Peeta is offered a deal he can't refuse by his Building Superintendent, Vampire Katniss Everdeen- namely, money off his rent in exchange for his blood. Inspired by a prompt post on Tumblr.Happy Reading, there isn't any new material here, just cross-posting my three drabbles with some corrections to spelling/grammar.
Relationships: Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark
Comments: 17
Kudos: 55





	What's A New Boy In Town To Do

Peeta gaped at the woman.

Katniss, his new landlord, had introduced herself to him as. Her name was unusual, but then again, his parents had named him after a type of bread.

Her unusual name wasn’t the most obviously different thing about her. That would be her longer than average canine teeth, the sharp points of which were jutting out of her mouth and lightly pressing into the plump flesh of her painted-red lower lip.

At least he thought her lips were painted. He couldn’t be sure. This was mostly uncharted territory for him.

Peeta tried to remember the last time he’d met a legion member, but the details of that encounter were fuzzy in his mind. The insurgence of the undead had never reached as far as the little town he’d grown up in, so opportunities would have been few and far between.

Still, Peeta knew, as most did, that vampires were easily found in the Capitol. He’d just never given them much thought until that moment.

Katniss stared him down, her silver eyes giving him no chance to break away from their gaze. There was something very cat-like about the way she watched him. Peeta was wholly aware of the way a mouse must feel.

“What’s the big deal?” she asked softly.

Katniss stepped closer, forcing Peeta back against his apartment door while she crowded his space. She didn’t touch him. She just stood close enough that the two of them could’ve shared the same oxygen if only she were breathing it too.

Peeta held his breath as she leaned towards him. He felt the icy chill that radiated from her bloodless skin at their proximity. He watched, mystified, as Katniss closed her eyes and took a deep sniff of the side of his neck.

_Oh, god, she was **smelling** him._

Her eyes opened again, and he swore her pupils had swelled twice as large as they’d been before she closed them. “Oh, Mr. Mellark, that’s _nice_ ,” she said, her voice rolling into a low purr on the _k_.

Peeta swallowed, certainly panicking a little, yes, but also…

Wad that excitement buzzing around the edge of his brain?

What would it feel like to have those sharp little teeth break the surface of his skin? Peeta imagined Katniss’s lips on his neck, a quick prick, her hands on him as she sucked the life force from his body…

Peeta shook his head to clear the fog that had temporarily overtaken him. What was he thinking? This woman was dangerous.

“I don’t-“

“You don’t have to give me an answer tonight, Mr.Mellark,” Katniss drawled, finally backing away from him.

“Call me Peeta,” he rushed out, apologetically almost, around the tightness in his throat.

“Peeta,” Katniss said his name slowly like she savored the feel of it on her tongue. “Give yourself some time to think it over. I’m not going anywhere. Clean blood is getting expensive and hard to find. And yours,” she paused, a sly grin snaking across her face, “is top-shelf. I can tell.”

As he stared, Katniss reached into the back pocket of her painted on black jeans and pulled something out. “Here’s the key to your apartment,” she said, dropping it into his outstretched palm. “If you decide to take me up on the offer, its fifty dollars off your rent per feed.”

“How will I get ahold of you if I decide to…?” Peeta asked, finally regaining his ability to speak normally. It was like she’d held him in a trance when she’d stood so close to him a minute ago.

This was crazy. He knew he shouldn’t even consider becoming his landlord’s new blood bank.

And yet… he was considering it.

What could he say? Rent was expensive in this part of the city. And he didn’t need _all_ of his blood, did he?

“Just invite me in. And you have to- I never go where I’m not wanted,” Katniss said, turning on her heel.

He stared at the swing of her hips as she walked away. “My place is directly above you, one floor up. 602,” she called over her shoulder to him.

A beat of silence. “Later, Peeta.”

“Bye, Katniss,” he said softly.

Once she’d disappeared behind the closing of the elevator doors, Peeta let himself into his apartment. He had a lot to think about.

* * *

Peeta hesitated for a moment outside the door of 602. The golden placard (not silver, of course), situated just below the peephole, had the words _K. Everdeen, Unit Manager_ embossed in curling, heavy scroll. It seemed a bit ostentatious for the superintendent of an apartment building in midtown, but he supposed not every place was managed by a vampire. Perhaps it made this ordinary enough place more distinctive. But then again, maybe all apartments were managed by the undead. How was he supposed to know? He was still a bit out of his element here.

Peeta had just raised his fist to knock on _K. Everdeen, Unit Manager_ ’s door, when it swung out, catching him off guard. He just managed to move in time to avoid being hit. 

Katniss stepped out, and another girl appeared from behind her as well- they didn’t seem to notice him at first. 

It was surprising to see the living girl (had he just assumed the undead couldn’t have human friends?) at Katniss’s side, but when his eyes fixed on the fresh-looking set of bite wounds beneath her hair, it made more sense.

“Peeta!” Katniss said, finally taking note of him. Her tone was more subdued than the time they’d met when she propositioned him. 

By contrast, Peeta felt like he’d caught her off guard. It was strange. “Hey,” he answered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Katniss placed a staying hand on the other girl’s arm- she’d shrunk back at the sight of him. The girl was young and blond, with blue eyes a darker shade than his; they seemed as wide as saucers. 

“Hello,” the girl greeted him. She sounded cautious, although she’d relaxed considerably after Katniss said his name. 

Peeta tried not to be obvious about it, but he couldn’t seem to stop staring at the two of them. His curiosity was aroused. 

He felt uneasy with the scene before him for a reason he couldn’t quite put to words.

But there was something Peeta knew for sure- he needed to come up with a different excuse for seeking Katniss out today. 

He’d been prepared to tell her he was willing to take her up on her offer, but the strangeness of this encounter put a screeching halt to that decision. It just didn’t seem like something to jump right into, no matter how many nights Peeta laid in bed, fantasizing about what’d it be like to go under the fang. 

“So,” he finally managed, after the silence hanging in the air had dragged on much too long- “I’m sorry to bother you. I can come back later if you’re busy.”

“No, I was leaving,” the girl told him, her voice a soft almost-whisper, but not weak. To his surprise, she grinned at him easily. “Katniss mentioned you might be stopping over.” 

Peeta tried not to frown visibly. 

How would she have known that? He’d just made up his mind to go through with it today, and he hadn’t seen Katniss since she’d made the offer to take rent money off in exchange for blood. 

Were the undead mind-readers? That thought made him feel a little uneasy. Then again, Katniss could have just been aware that he hadn’t done a good job of hiding his excitement during that first encounter.

The girl glanced back at Katniss then, who had been standing behind her, mostly silent. Peeta watched the two of them lock eyes, and what passed there seemed heavy with meaning. The shared look spoke of an understanding, one that should’ve been out of place for a person who’d just let herself be fed off of. 

Was this what a relationship between himself and Katniss might look like? 

Honestly, Peeta didn’t think so. There had to be more between the two girls than a simple business transaction. Plus, the blond girl looked way too young to be renting an apartment here by herself. If he were to guess, Peeta would assume that she was probably in high school.

She certainly didn’t look old enough to sell her blood for rent money.

 _Ha_ , he thought suddenly, _like_ _that’s I’m in it for anyway_.

Who was he kidding? He was more than eager for Katniss to get her fangs into him. 

The thought was a bit disconcerting if he chose to contemplate it for long. 

Peeta had never considered himself a kinky guy before now, but that was before a vampire had propositioned him. 

Now one particular member of the undead was all he’d been able to think about since the first time he saw her.

“So you’ll let me know if you need me again?” the girl asked Katniss, breaking the thick silence along with his slightly disturbing train of thought.

“Yeah, I will, Prim. Tell mom I said hey?”

This girl was her _sister_?

“Of course,” Prim (apparently this was Prim) said. 

She stepped towards Katniss, enveloping her in her arms and pulling her close. “Thresh, and Rue are waiting to take me home, so I’d better go. I don’t want to make them wait,” Prim said.

While the two embraced, Peeta took the opportunity to look more closely at them. 

He couldn’t help but notice that despite Katniss’s straight black hair and the other one’s much fairer coloring (well, at one time the girl must’ve been fairer- Katniss’s skin was as white as copy paper, just the same as the entire legion was no matter what their ethnicity), the two looked very much alike. 

But how was that possible when the other girl was alive? 

He didn’t think that was how it worked. 

_Learn something new every day_ , Peeta thought.

As he watched, Prim extricated herself from Katniss’s arms. After telling him goodbye and that she looked forward to seeing him again, she walked down the hall and got onto the elevator while he stood next to Katniss in what was definitely an awkward silence.

“Come inside,” Katniss offered once her sister had disappeared behind the elevator doors. 

Peeta followed her inside, still feeling off his game after the encounter with Prim in the hall. He’d built up this image of her in his mind as this sexy (although help him- she was certainly still that), other-worldly, cold-blooded seductress, but after meeting her sister and then seeing that way Katniss cared about her sister, she seemed different to him. The fantasy he’d created in his mind had changed before his eyes, and Peeta wasn’t sure how he felt about that if he were honest.

“What can I do for you?” Katniss asked. She closed the door behind them, and after indicating that he should find a seat in the living area, she followed closely behind him. 

Gingerly, Peeta sat down on a couch that looked older than the one in his apartment, and that was really saying something because his was a hand-me-down from his great aunt. 

Managing this apartment complex must not pay too well.

He glanced over at Katniss then, shifting in his seat. He felt bad about judging her surroundings, and that just made an uncomfortable situation even more so. He wasn’t sure how to begin this conversation.

“So what do you need- did you lose your key, Peeta?” Katniss asked casually, smirking at him from the chair she’d flopped on. 

He remained silent as she stared him down. She was daring him to lie to her, and she certainly wasn’t wrong in her assumption. He’d been ready to do just that. 

“Let me guess,“ she continued to taunt him gently, "you were about to say you aren’t sure where you left it more specifically.”

He swallowed hard, nervous at being caught in an almost-lie.

Her eyes cut to his neck sharply, seemingly fixated on the motion of the muscles of his throat. 

“Let’s not pretend though, Peeta,” she drawled a moment later, his name coming out again in that mildly pornographic way she had of saying it. 

He watched as she stood. In one fluid motion, Katniss moved to where he sat and lowered herself next to him on the couch.

Once she was settled, she nodded at his lap with a smirk. “If I were to slide my hand into your front pocket right now, I’m certain I’d find it.”

 _If you put your hand in my pocket right now, a key isn’t the only thing you’d find,_ he realized, panicked at the thought _._

Peeta’s traitorous body wasn’t doing a great job of keeping up with the current situation. His dick needed to calm down- now was not the time! 

He was ready to bolt, fear spouting through his veins and crashing through his body, but something was holding him back. Instead of showing his fear, he smiled at her. He hoped it didn’t make him look weak. 

Katniss leaned towards him without another word, invading his space again while refraining from touching any part of him. Every muscle tensed in agonized restraint as she brought her pointed little nose close to his neck and inhaled deeply. “Your smell is wonderful,” she whispered, “it’s intoxicating. You’re lucky I just ate, or I’d be tempted to drain you dry right now.”

Peeta shuddered, his brain aware the bodily fluid she was referencing was blood while his overstimulated nerves were unable to figure out the difference. 

Either option sounded painfully erotic. 

“I thought I needed to invite you first,” he managed, his body tingling from her proximity.

Katniss used one of her slim fingers to tilt his face to one side so that she could look at him. She was even more mesmerizing at this angle, cold and lethal, her eyes burning with an intensity he was frightened of losing himself in. “Showing up to my home is as good as accepting,” she told him. “You’ve essentially walked into the lion’s den.” 

She didn’t blink, holding his gaze much longer than would ever be considered normal or even polite. And then, as Peeta was wondering if he should try to kiss her or bolt, something in her eyes shifted, and the distinct sensation of being released from captivity rolled through him. 

Katniss smiled, her razor-like canines just peeking out between her lips. 

“But like I said- I already ate. You’ll have to come back later,” she told him, dropping her finger from his chin and moving to rest against the back of the couch. Something about the pose made her look more human.

Peeta licked his lips to relieve the dry, itching feeling spreading through his body. “How would this work?” He asked finally, turning in his seat to look at her. 

“How often would I need to feed?” she filled in, stretching out on the couch and resting her head against the back. 

She looked completely at leisure. 

“Two or three times a week,” Katniss said. “The process will leave you a light-headed for a while after, so you’ll have to give yourself some recovery time. You wouldn’t want to make plans for the rest of the night.”

“Okay,” Peeta said. That didn’t seem like a problem. He didn’t have much of a social life right now. “Would I be the only one you were using?”

“Yes. I have some difficulty finding compatible sources,” Katniss admitted. 

He wondered what that meant. It sounded cryptic.

She seemed to hesitate a moment before telling him more. “My sister has been filling in since I lost my last partner, and I don’t want to keep doing that to her. Prim’s small, and she feels the loss more than someone as large as you would. It puts her at risk.”

Peeta thought to ask what kind of risk she meant but dismissed it from his mind in the same second. It didn’t seem important- she hadn’t mentioned any risk to him. 

“Does that mean I’d be at your beck and call?” he asked instead. He was becoming more intrigued with the idea by the minute. 

_You’re a sick fucker, Mellark_ \- he told himself, slightly ashamed of how badly he wanted to do this, but much too excited to let it get him down. 

Peeta was entranced with the idea of being her… well, whatever it was, this arrangement would make him. Her blood bitch?

Katniss laughed as she stretched her legs out on the couch beside him. She seemed surprisingly comfortable in his presence. 

Well, he supposed she didn’t have anything to fear. She was the predator, not him.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” she admitted.

“You don’t have to- I guess it was more of a rhetorical question,” Peeta told her. When he met her eyes, he’d almost swear there was a hint of relief looking back at him. Either way, he’d made up his mind. “I’ll do it, Katniss,” he told her.

She sat up, taking his hand in her cold, firm grasp—chilled electric shot through his veins like morphling. 

“You won’t regret it,” she told him, “I’ll make it worth your while.”

“More money?” Peeta asked, half-joking. 

He hoped that wasn’t what she’d say- it would make this arrangement feel sordid.

Katniss shook her head. Her lips turned up, and those sharp points of her canines made another appearance. 

“Not money, something better,” she promised.

* * *

“Peeta,” Katniss took his warm hand in her ice-cold one as they approached the club’s back door. “You can relax- I won’t let anyone hurt you in there; you’re safe with me.”

Peeta glanced at her in disbelief. He paused, stopped both of them in their tracks. He was panicking a bit if he was honest; the situation he found himself in with Katniss certainly warranted it.

It was the middle of the night, and he was standing with her in a part of the city he knew nothing about.

Hell, Peeta wasn’t even sure how they wound up here- he was pretty sure Katniss lulled him into some sort of trance after feeding off him for the first time this evening.

And despite the way he’d entrusted his life to her (literally), he’d rather know whether or not his life was going to be in danger inside the club, the club that was full of vampires, according to Katniss.

Awesome.

“Can you specify though,” Peeta asked after hem hawing next to her for a moment, “do you mean I’m only safe in there when I’m with you? Or that I’m perfectly safe either way-“

Katniss scowled at him like he was wasting her time, immediately putting a halt to his line of questions.

She tugged on his hand to get him moving again.

It was moments just like this one where Peeta felt like maybe he’d gotten in over his head with her; perhaps making this agreement to become her “food” source in exchange for money off his rent wasn’t his brightest moment.

But, unbeknownst to him until recently, he had a bit of a vampire fetish. Who knew?

“Just don’t go far, and you’ll be fine,” Katniss said as they reached the fire-escape looking set of stairs that led to the back door of the club.

Like that statement was reassuring at all.

For one thing, the bass level leaking out of the old warehouse was concerning him. He could feel the metal stairs vibrating from the force of the music even out here. It seemed like it would be way too easy to get separated from her once they were in there.

“That’s not exactly comforting,” Peeta grumbled as she led him up the back stairs.

Katniss scowled at him, before spinning on her heel and pinning him against the stair rail.

Those ice-cold fingers of hers dug tightly into his overheated body, fixing to his biceps and holding his body in place. Peeta could feel the entire force of her will.

“I protect what’s mine,” Katniss reminded him. He sucked in his breath, his nerves going wild in her presence.

She smiled in a feline way and released him from her grip; it didn’t matter though, he wasn’t going anywhere, and they both knew it. As screwed up as this situation with Katniss was, he didn’t want to budge an inch.

She ran a sharp fingernail down the length of his neck, and his heart was beating frantically like it had more sense than he did and was trying to escape the confines of his body.

“All that deliciousness coursing through your body right now? It’s all mine. Don’t forget- I don’t like to share.” Katniss whispered.

He sucked in a sharp breath, and his eyes slipped closed in anticipation when she leaned closer to him- closer, closer until she was skating her fangs across the thin, sensitive skin of his neck.

It was a teasing motion, one that made him shudder while Katniss laughed.

She knew she owned him now.

It brought the memory to the forefront of his mind of the way it had felt when she pierced his flesh just a few hours ago and fed off of him for the first time. She let her cool breath flutter across him before backing away, and It did entirely inappropriate things to other parts of his anatomy.

Peeta heard himself laugh faintly, the sound weird and strangled even to him.

Ahh, he could admit to himself: he was fucked, pure, and simple.

Like he could tell Katniss no to anything now, even if he wanted to, even if it meant following her into a death trap.

When she tugged on his hand to get him moving once again, Peeta followed her without hesitation.

Better to live fast and leave a good-looking corpse, he figured, stepping through the door of the club.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
